The Detroit Red Wings broke the home-win streak record, and capped it with 23 wins after their home loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The previous record took 36 years just to tie, and that was with 20 home wins — so add three more on to that and some may say the new record is unbreakable — particularly if you are talking to someone from Detroit.
Records like Teemu Selanne’s 76 goals his rookie season and Wayne Gretzky’s 92 goals in a single season seem unfathomable these days in the NHL. But many believe that some, if not all, of these incredible records exist due to the rules and equipment used, which are different than what we see in today’s NHL. It’s hard to say if the “era” argument deserves consideration or if it is just the rantings from fans of the previous record holder.
I hear of the same dispute when it comes to professional boxers, people often squabble about the “what ifs” of pitting Muhammid Ali vs. Mike Tyson or Joe Louis vs. George Foreman arguing that the old era athletes had or didn’t have some advantage over the new era. The fact is, nuances and rules of sports change, but the fundamentals are the same giving no clear advantage of one era over the next when it comes to things like wins, losses, goals or even knockouts on a record setting scale — the achievements are just outstanding and so records are made, tracked and eventually broken.
An untouchable record is something that the fans from Hockeytown would certainly like to add to the decorated history of the Red Wings’ organization. Though no record is unbeatable, if history has anything to tell us, then it is likely that Red Wings fans will get to boast about this home winning streak for a very long time.